Countdown to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships Teleconference – John Velazquez, Kathy Ritvo and Dale Romans

Eric Wing: Welcome to today’s NTRA Communications national media teleconference This coming Saturday marks the grand finale of the “Summer at Saratoga” series, and this week’s final installment on Saturday 5 to 6 p.m. Eastern on NBC. That show will have the runnings of the Woodward Stakes, the Forego Stakes; those two both Grade 1 events, and the Grade 2 $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap. If you can’t make it to the track or to a T.V. set, the “Down The Stretch Race Of The Week” program will air on Sirius Channel 93 and XM Satellite Radio channel 209 from 5 to 6 p.m. as well. They’ll have live audio coverage of the Woodward Stakes. And our friends at Horse Racing Radio Network will be on the road covering stakes on Labor Day, the 3rd. They’ll have both the Hopeful Stakes from Saratoga on Monday, as well as the Turf Monster Handicap for grassy sprinters at Parx. Those two races both coming up on Monday on HRRN. We have a nice slate of guests to join us today. A little later we’ll check in with trainer Kathy Rivto, who will saddle the likely favorite for the Woodward Stakes in Mucho Macho Man. And we will not have Butch Reid on as we had originally thought. His horse, Poseidon’s Warrior, will not be part of the Forego Stakes. Dale Romans will join us instead. And Dale, of course, has Shackleford in the Forego, and he’ll also be running Quick Wit in the Saranac Stakes on Monday. First up, though, we’re delighted to welcome in Hall of Fame jockey, John Velasquez. John will be aboard the aforementioned Shackleford in the Forego, and he’s also booked on a couple of very intriguing two year olds in the next week or so: Dreaming of Julia in Sunday’s Spinaway Stakes; that a Grade 1. And he’ll be venturing out west a week from tomorrow to ride Capo Bastone for John Sadler in the Del Mar Futurity; that too a Grade 1 event. John, it’s Eric Wing in New York. How are you today?

John Velasquez: Good. How are you?

Eric Wing: I’m fine, thank you. And I want to start with your two year olds. Dreaming of Julia was a pretty widely touted horse even before her name ever showed up in any entries, and I guess that was also evidenced by your two to five odds. What was it like riding her in that maiden score in which she won by ten and a half, and had you been on her prior to that?

John Velasquez: Yes, I was working on her ever since I came back. Actually, she was one of the first horses that I started working when I came back after the injury, so I knew a little bit about her and she was very impressive in the maiden special.

Eric Wing: I’ll say. And, you know, Capo Bastone you’re going to be riding for John Sadler in the Del Mar Futurity. John’s not a guy you ride an awful lot for even among the West Coast trainers. How did that hookup take place between you and John?

John Velasquez: Yes, well this is between the partnership who owns the horse. I talked to Aron, who is president of the partnership and then he approached my agent and approached myself and asked me if I—would I like to go over there and ride this horse. And I looked at the horse, and it looked really interesting, and that’s how we picked up the horse.

John Velasquez: Yes, I did. I went back and saw the video of the race, and I think he was very impressive the way he ran. He came from way back and there was a lot of speed in the race, obviously they went really fast in front and he was three to five back and came in inside and then pulled out at the 3/16 bullet (ph) and it seems like he won very convincingly.

Eric Wing: All right. Well, a lot to look forward to. And, John, I might ask you a question or two later but I want to give the media listening in their turn, so for the first time today I’m going to throw things back over to Sarah, and she’ll see what questions the media have for you.

Jennie Rees: Hi. Just, John, could you just talk about Shackleford’s last race in the Swaps, and maybe how he seemed different from when you rode him in the Met Mile?

John Velasquez: Well, even in the warm-up I could tell that he seemed like he was not interested in the racetrack, and obviously when he broke out of there I came out running thinking that,if I put him into the race maybe he’ll change his mind and actually run a little bit. And that wasn’t the case. And he was not interested in running at all, and it wasn’t the track for us.

Jennie Rees: Then you compare that to, you know, how did he seem when you rode him in the Met Mile? He obviously liked that experience?

John Velasquez: Well, obviously I took it (inaudible) and won the—at the racetrack that, you know, he loved, and very competitive, and the other one was completely opposite; that he did not like and he didn’t want to compete.

Jennie Rees: Yes. And do you also have a mount for the Woodward? The advisory didn’t say, but…?

John Velasquez: To tell you the truth, I don’t even know.

Jennie Rees: Okay. Right, thanks, John.

John Velasquez: Thanks.

Carol Holden: Hi, John. Thanks a lot for joining us today. Talked about you going to California, and I know it’s not unusual for riders to go from East Coast to West Coast, and I was wondering if you would talk about what a toll that takes on you and actually how you deal with it when you just basically get off the plane and go to the track and do your work and then turn around?

John Velasquez: Yes, I mean going from here over there is an easy thing to do, it’s coming back home is what really gets to you. Obviously you have to fly in the red eye, and then if you have to ride the next day that’s probably what takes the toll on you. But going from here to the West Coast is not bad; it’s just coming home that’s the tough one.

Carol Holden: Do you do anything to try to counteract that, or it’s just because you’re fit and healthy you’re able to handle it?

John Velasquez: Yes, I think you—really there’s nothing you can do other than try to rest as best you can. We are pretty fit, and once we start riding the races we kind of forget about it and run, and hopefully you get a nice sleep that night.

Danny Brewer: Talk about Shackleford for a second and his versatility as a horse. And Dale seems to put him in good spots and good races, and what’s your thoughts on all that?

John Velasquez: I don’t know, I mean he’s been running every chance you can imagine, so he’s been running against every good horse out there. So I think he’s a very, very good horse other than like in the wet or the muddy tracks. Other than that, he hasn’t done anything wrong. I mean he is one of the horses that you love to ride.

Danny Brewer: Now Dale as a trainer, what’s it like riding for him, because he seems to, like I said, always likes to put his horses against the best?

John Velasquez: Yes. Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ve been very fortunate and very lucky to ride for Dale. I don’t get to ride for him very much, but when he seems to—I get to ride for him it’s definitely a horse that’s very important and in very good races. So I’m just honored that he thinks of me when there are big races that are coming out, and when he has a horse like this one. I’m just glad to be part of the team.

Danny Brewer: Okay, and last question from me. The Del Mar track, do you—have you ridden on that, and what’s your thoughts on that surface out there?

John Velasquez: No, I haven’t ridden on the track in Del Mar. I mean I assume it’s just like every other poly track or synthetic track. I will be there early enough that I’m going to be watching the races during the day and will get a view and a sense how the track is playing, and hopefully I get a good feeling out of it, you know?

Jennie Rees: Yes, hey, John, I knew I’d read somewhere that you had—that you’d picked up a mount for the Woodward, so I Googled it and it’s To Honor and Serve.

John Velasquez: Oh, there you go. There you go. You know better than me.

Jennie Rees: Well, it’s Google. So do you have any thoughts on To Honor and Serve?

John Velasquez: Well, I rode him here last year when he came back with the (cross talking)…

Jennie Rees: That’s right.

John Velasquez: And I tell you what, I was very impressed with the way he ran here, and even had the competition with (inaudible) afterwards, and I was like, man, I think this horse came out really well this year. And I didn’t get the opportunity to ride him back after that, and I loved the mount. I was committed already on other mounts, and I never got to ride him until now and next Saturday. I did know a little bit about it, I just didn’t know if I was going to ride.

Jennie Rees: Yes.

John Velasquez: You confirmed it to me now.

Jennie Rees: Well, I just got of Blood-Horse. But could you talk about the meet that you’ve had—you know, you were coming off an injury, and I mean it just seems like every time you look up, you know, you’re in the winner’s circle for a lot of the stakes up there that you’ve had a good meet.

John Velasquez: Well, I’m really blessed, to come back and ride all these really nice horses that I’ve been on, and with the people that I work with, and trust me to ride these really nice horses. So I mean that’s what helps, you know, is when you work with people like that and you get the trust and they give you the good horses. So it makes it a lot easier for the riders to come back and have that much success that I’ve been having so far.

Eric Wing: John, not to beat this traveling out to Del Mar question to death, but is it at all more difficult going out there to ride one race on synthetic after you’ve been riding for months at Belmont and Saratoga?

John Velasquez: No. I know for me I’m pretty easy, but I do this all the time, and, comes wintertime I ride on the dirt all winter long, and then we go synthetic. So, you’ve got to get used to all that stuff. You’ve just got to do your homework and hopefully your horse likes this track. This horse ran on the track already and seems to be handling it. That’s the main thing right there is you’re ahead of the game if you know if the horse likes the track. I think that this horse runs really well. And that’s basically what you base it on; if your horse likes the track you’re ahead of the game.

Eric Wing: Very good. And, John, it sounds like we’ve solved the puzzle with respect to who you’re going to ride in the Woodward. I know—I think your Hopeful mount was up in the air. Perhaps Rosie Napravnik was on a couple, and waiting for—she and her agent to make up their minds which they were going to ride. Do you know what your status is for the Hopeful yet?

John Velasquez: No, I don’t even know it either. About the Woodward, I haven’t really paid attention. This past weekend I was so busy that I didn’t talk with my agent. So that’s basically where I am right now. I’ll wait until tomorrow, when I go back to work in the morning and then it’s all in line and I kind of know a little bit better what we’re doing. So that’s where I am today.

Eric Wing: Well, John, regardless of what happens I have a feeling you’re going to wind up on a two year old in the Hopeful, and probably a very good one. We wish you the best of luck with all your mounts this upcoming weekend and week, and thanks very much for taking time out of your Tuesday to chat with us.

John Velasquez: No problem. Thank you for having me.

Eric Wing: Thank you. That’s Hall of Fame jockey, John Velasquez; newly inducted this year. And John will have a customarily busy weekend as he rides so many of the big races at Saratoga. We already mentioned Shackleford in the Forego, and, of course, Dreaming of Julia in the Spinaway, To Honor and Serve in the Woodward, and then he’ll be riding plenty of other races as well, stakes and otherwise, and Capo Bastone a week from tomorrow way out at Del Mar in the Del Mar Futurity for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trainer John Sadler. Okay, that will take us to our second guest of the day. It’s trainer Kathy Rivto. And she has the Suburban winner, Mucho Macho Man, ready to go in Saturday’s Grade 1 Woodward Stakes. I understand we’re dialing out to Kathy as we speak. Kathy, it’s Eric Wing, how are you today?

Kathy Rivto: Great, thank you. How are you?

Eric Wing: I’m fine, thanks. And, Kathy, Mucho Macho Man had a perfectly nice three year old year to be sure; danced a lot of dances. But he seems to have really stepped up his game as a four year old. And I noticed this year his races have been more spaced out. Do you think that’s been a key to the fine year he’s had so far?

Kathy Rivto: Yes, definitely. He likes the time to recover between his races, and he really loves to train. I know it sounds funny, but it works for him.

Eric Wing: Is it hard or was it tempting to skip the Whitney? I know it would’ve been only about three weeks, but, you know, the Whitney is the Whitney. Was it—is it hard as a trainer to pass up a spot like that to look for another one five weeks down the road?

Kathy Rivto: Definitely. But what—it was hard. I really wanted to run. But what we did last year was we went backwards from our goal and we made a racing schedule for him, and it’s worked perfectly so we’ve just stuck to it. And it works—it just worked out.

Eric Wing: And with this four year old campaign with the races a little bit more spread out, if everything were to go as you hope on Saturday in the Woodward, would this be his final race before the Breeders’ Cup Classic?

Kathy Rivto: It could be. It could be. We’re going to see how he comes back, and then we’ll make a decision after that. But he’s been running good with the space, so we’re just going to have to play it by ear and see how he comes back, and hopefully he runs another great race, and I’m just looking forward to Saturday.

Eric Wing: Very good. Kathy, there’s more that I’d like to ask you later, but I want to give the media their chance with you. So, again, I’ll throw things back over to Sarah, and she’ll see what questions the writers and broadcasters have for you.

Danny Brewer: Last time out he made it look so easy. Was it almost scary good performance by him?

Kathy Rivto: It was. It was. My hands were shaking when I was just—when I was watching how easy he was running and how much horse Mike Smith had. And he said it actually felt like that to him, too, so.

Danny Brewer: Now, he’s a relatively young four year old. Is he still maturing or do you think he’s grown into his body, because he’s a pretty big horse, too?

Kathy Rivto: He is. He’s just about 17’3″ now, and I hope he doesn’t get too much bigger. But he’s actually starting to fill out beautifully where he’s putting these big muscles right all through his back and just getting really strong. So it’s just great to see a horse develop like that that is so big.

Danny Brewer: Now, Mike Smith is the jockey. What’s your thoughts on Mike, and obviously last time was pretty good, right?

Kathy Rivto: No, excellent. I think he gets along with the horse great. I think he has nice patience and he’s used to, you know, he’s ridden those big horses like Macho Man, and I think he’s a great horseman and he has unbelievable hands, and I think he fit him perfectly.

Ed McNamara: Oh hi, Kathy. Did you think that Macho Man’s size kind of slowed him—his development up last year? I mean he looked really good in a few races, but was that a little disappointing that he didn’t mature a little sooner?

Kathy Rivto: You know what, him having such talent I wish that he could’ve been more mature sooner. But he’s having a great year now, and I think that we’ve figured him out where he needs more time to recover because he’s such a big horse. And he really likes to do his day-to-day training, and I think that’s the key to him right now.

Jennie Rees: How is this year different for you than say last year when maybe you were new to the constant demand of interviews and stuff like that, and—I mean is it different at all having sort of gone through it last year this process?

Kathy Rivto: Last year was exciting, and, you know, I mean it’s been amazing training a good horse, and I love to talk about him. He’s a good horse, and I just—you know, for him to be consistent like he’s been and run a lot of good races, it’s great. It’s great. I love to talk to the media, and to have a good horse. I have to almost pinch myself every day. So it’s been a great ride. And I didn’t really actually know why the media was so great, but they are because they tell all the good stories of the horses that, you know, have run, and I’ve really tried to pay attention to make sure I spend enough time to get the word out on, you know, the good horses and good racing.

Jennie Rees: Do you find yourself this year like watching the Whitney really closely and sort of scoping out the competition for not just this race but down the road and for Santa Anita?

Kathy Rivto: I do, I do. It makes it a lot more interesting when you have a dog in the fight, you know? You watch all the horses and you see how everybody preps their horses to get ready for the different races, and it makes it a lot more exciting. But I do appreciate the days when I can sit up and watch the good racing and not be biting my nails.

Jennie Rees: Have you been kind of watching the poll how it’s sort of been juggling back and forth from Mucho Macho Man to then, you know, Ron the Greek, and then—who am I blanking on—Game on Dude as far as the top ranked horse?

Kathy Rivto: Yes, definitely, definitely. But, you know, I think that it’s a little bit harder for Mucho Macho Man because we do space out his races. But I mean I don’t mind; I don’t mind at all. It’s good to see good horses run, and, you know, it’s just—I mean that’s not what I base it on, but it’s nice to see him come back and forth, back and forth.

Jennie Rees: Yes. And just sort of, you know, if you could sort of fast forward reflect on the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and, you know, how much work this year has been pointing towards the Classic I assume?

Kathy Rivto: You know, like I said, it’s just we’ve handpicked these races and hopefully it gets us to our goal at the end of the year. And, you know, coming from the Sunshine Millions into the Grade 2s, and just kind of moving him up and, you know, up a step each time, hopefully it will work for us. And he’s been handling it so well. So it’s been perfect so far.

Jennie Rees: I do have one final question. Just looking at his work pattern, he had one work at Belmont and then you shipped him up to—well I guess that was after the Suburban to Saratoga maybe a little early before the meet. Was that because you knew you weren’t going to be racing at Belmont so why not just get him up to Saratoga, or was there a reason that you…?

Kathy Rivto: No, that was a funny thing. We were actually in Saratoga. He was in Saratoga and it was his day to work. I had a horse in that day in Belmont so I just brought him with me and we worked him in Belmont.

Jennie Rees: Oh, I see. Is there some reason that you’ve been at Saratoga versus at Belmont?

Kathy Rivto: No, you know what, Saratoga’s so relaxing for the horses, and the weather has been great; nice and cool, so that’s kind of why we needed a—we moved up here. We only made one move instead of moving the horses a few times. I just went from Florida to Saratoga, and we’ll leave Saratoga and go back to Florida.

Eric Wing: Kathy, it probably seems like a lifetime ago, but Mucho Macho Man has only had the one start at Saratoga. I believe the second start of his career as a two year old, he still hadn’t broken his maiden yet. But you mentioned he’s been up there for awhile this summer. How has he taken to the atmosphere and also the surface from what you can tell?

Kathy Rivto: He trained for the Suburban up here. We shipped him the morning of the Suburban back to Belmont—I mean—yes, back to Belmont, and this is the racetrack that we used to get ready last year for his November start off of a layup. So it’s been really good to him.

Eric Wing: And last but not least, Kathy. A victory in the Woodward would be the first Grade 1 win for Mucho Macho Man, and also the first Grade 1 win for you in your training career. What would such a victory mean both to Mucho Macho Man’s connections and to you?

Kathy Rivto: It would be amazing. This is what we’ve been working for, and, you know, he deserves it. I just come along for the ride, and you know, happy to be there and hopefully we can make it happen for him.

Eric Wing: Well, Kathy, best of luck to you on Saturday. I mean it seems like this plan that you drew up way back when has really worked out well for you, and I hope it continues to do so on Saturday, and we thank you so much for your participation on this call.

Kathy Rivto: Thank you so much.

Eric Wing: Thank you. That’s trainer Kathy Rivto. She’ll be saddling Mucho Macho Man in Saturday’s Woodward Stakes Grade 1 $750,000 added, and—or rather guaranteed I should say. And that race along with the Grade 1 Forego Stakes and the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap will comprise the final installment of “Summer at Saratoga” this week coming up on NBC 5 to 6 p.m. Eastern. And, again, Woodward Stakes will also be on Sirius XM Satellite Radio Sirius channel 93 and XM 209 as part of the “Down The Stretch Race Of The Week” broadcast. Dave Johnson and Bill Finley your hosts there. Our third and final guest will not have action in the Woodward, but he will be represented by Shackleford in the Forego Stakes. He’ll also have Quick Wit, a three year old who won the off-the-turf Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga. He’ll be back on the grass on Sunday for the Grade 3 Saranac Stakes. And both Shackleford and Quick Wit are trained by Dale Romans. Dale, it’s Eric Wing in New York. How are you today?

Dale Romans: Good, good.

Eric Wing: Dale, thanks for joining us. Belated congratulations on the big win by Dullahan in the Pacific Classic. Looking ahead to this weekend, things didn’t work out for Shackleford in the 6 furlong Vanderbilt in the mud, but would the 7 furlong Forego serve as almost as good a resume builder for his future stallion career to go along with those earlier Grade 1s in the Met Mile and the Preakness?

Dale Romans: Well, you put a Met Mile and a Preakness on your resume; it’s hard to improve off of that. There’s only a few races left, I think, that can really move your forward as far as the stallion barn goes, and that may be the Breeders’ Cup. And so, you know, we’d love to have won the Vanderbilt, but the Vanderbilt and this race are more stepping stones towards getting to the Breeders’ Cup.

Eric Wing: Okay, makes sense. Can you give us an update on Dullahan? How did he come out of the Pacific Classic? And have you figured anything out yet on how you might keep horses like Dullahan, and Little Mike, and Silver Max, and Finnegans Wake apart?

Dale Romans: I just came out of a meeting with Jerry Crawford and Ron Anderson and myself going over that issue, and it looks like it’s going to be difficult. There’s going have to be some entries run somewhere. He came out of the race in great shape, but he, you know, where we’re going next we haven’t decided. There’s even a chance that we may just train straight into the Breeders’ Cup.

Eric Wing: Okay, so I guess good problems to have, but decisions to be made nonetheless. Dale, I’ll ask you a question or two later, but want to give the media their chance. So one last time I’ll throw it back over to Sarah and see what questions the media have for you.

Dale Romans: Okay.

Danny Brewer: You seem to be great for the sport in the fact that you’re not afraid to take a shot with guys like Dullahan going out and winning the Pacific Classic. Do you take pride in being such a competitor?

Dale Romans: Yes, I like that. I don’t think that I’ve ever ducked from a situation. If something feels good to me and I have a gut feeling about it I’ll take a shot. But with that being said, I mean you better have thick skin because a few guys beat up on us sometimes when we take a shot and it doesn’t work out; either the press or these message boards. One of the best things that I’ve got going for me is I never look at a computer, so I don’t have to read all that stuff.

Danny Brewer: Yes, I know that (inaudible) said yesterday—or at the Pacific Classic on Sunday that he thought things added up for Dullahan out there. And I mean really do you think it was one digit math, and does that play into the factor of what—when, like you said, you’re going with your gut on these things?

Dale Romans: Yes, but, you know, everything has to make sense. But you need to know your horse and go with that, and I think go with your gut a lot; it helps you make good decisions. But it did make sense to go there from what we’ve saw. You know, he obviously is—poly form jumps out at you any time you look at his charts, and the only place to go for a big race for poly was the Del Mar. And the only race was the—if you’re going to go, go for the biggest one.

Danny Brewer: Now as far as Shackleford is concerned, will the Forego maybe tell you what he’s going to do at Breeders’ Cup; whether it’s the mile or the sprint, or what have you?

Dale Romans: Well, we’ll have one more race after the Forego. I’m not sure where it’ll be, but maybe the Kelso. But this—yes, this would tell us a lot, I believe. You know, if we get a fast bare racetrack and we get to Shackleford we’d know what we have, it’ll help us make some decisions.

Carol Holden: I know that you were basically bred, born, and raised on the racetrack and learned a lot from your father; probably picked up a lot by osmosis. But I’m wondering, your operation is so much larger than his and so much more demanding, what were some of the key points that you actually picked up from him to help you make this progression to literally the big time and the national scene?

Dale Romans: I was fortunate to grow up in the barn, where he wasn’t. And I think that gave me a big edge, as it does for—you know—you look at the list of top trainer in America and you’ve got, Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen, and myself, the Dutrow brothers all grew up in barns. And I think that that gave me a big edge as far as to further my career. And I think I’m lucky to come along in an era where you can have the big stables; where phones are now allowed on the racetrack and the computers are around, and that people have made it big business. And, you know, Wayne Lukas kind of got all that started; Jack Lambert a little before him. But this era we’re all about the same age if you look at us, too, with Todd and myself and Steve and the guys that are running the bigger outfits. I think it’s a factor of timing, being able to grow up in the barn, and, you know, caught a lot of breaks along the way.

Carol Holden: You do go back to the era when they locked the telephones an hour before the first race though, right?

Dale Romans: Yes, I remember it well. I remember it well. And it would have been very difficult to do what we do in my father’s generation.

Eric Wing: Dale, I was going through your records for the current year, and your versatility shows itself obviously just within your four Grade 1 winners of the year. But you’re 18% for the year, with the one exception of first time starters, in which you’re, you know, you’re a little light percentage-wise on. You’re like between 15 and 19% in every single category there is. Is there a certain category that you personally feel is your strongest suit?

Dale Romans: Well, I’ve preached—I try not to get labeled. I don’t—you know—you don’t want to be labeled a turf horse and only get turf horses—or turf trainer and only get turf horses. But this year I mean our turf horses have stood out. I like to think that we can, you know, my stable can train any type of horse. So, you know, not really. I think that we can do anything across the board or at least work with any type of racehorse.

Eric Wing: Well, the empirical data certainly bears that out this year, Dale. Lastly, Quick Wit, is he something of a sleeper, and will the Saranac on Sunday kind of determine whether he stays on turf or goes back onto the dirt, which he won the off- the-turf Hall of Fame Stakes over?

Dale Romans: Yes, he is a little bit of a sleeper. I think that there have been years where he’d have been the number one horse in the barn for sure. But he’s a nice, calming horse. I mean he’s one that’s steadily improving, and he’s very versatile. You can look at his numbers and they don’t change a lot on turf or dirt or mud or fast; he runs pretty consistent. And the Saranac will tell us a little bit more about where to go with him, and about, you know, there’s some big three year old races still coming up, and whether or not we want to go back to the dirt for one of them.

Eric Wing: Dale, really appreciate you taking the time out on short notice to join us today, and continued success to you and your team with all of your horses this coming weekend and beyond.

Dale Romans: Thanks for having me.

Eric Wing: Thank you. That’s Dale Romans. We spoke to Dale about two weeks ago, and since then he’s bagged two more Grade 1 wins; the most recent coming with Little Mike in the Arlington Million, Dullahan, of course, this past Sunday just two days ago in the Pacific Classic, and he’ll look to add to that Grade 1 total on Saturday on NBC with Shackleford in the Forego Stakes; that race $500,000 going 7 furlongs.